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All Countries that Once Bordered Germany

Can you name all the countries that Germany has bordered since its unification in 1871?
Puppet states are included as part of the country, East and West Germany are considered to be just "Germany"
Does not include colonies
Thanks to Dekkie for fact-checking the quiz
For the people that do not understand this map: The map is set to be modern day except for insets, which are in a time where Germany bordered a certain country
Quiz by Vicky
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Last updated: April 15, 2022
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First submittedMarch 19, 2019
Times taken62,734
Average score67.4%
Rating4.31
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Years
Country
1940-1944
Andorra
1918
Armenia
1918-1938
1955-
Austria
1871-1918
Austria-Hungary
1918
Azerbaijan
1918
Belarus
1871-1940
1944-1945
1949-
Belgium
1919-1923
Bottleneck
1941-1945
Bulgaria
1993-
Czech Republic
1918-1939
1949-1993
Czechoslovakia
1920-1939
Danzig
1871-1940
1949-
Denmark
1918
Don
1940-1945
Finland
Years
Country
1871-1940
1944-1945
1949-
France
1938-1945
Hungary
1938-1945
Italy
1920-1923
Klaipėda
1918
Kuban
1938-1945
Liechtenstein
1918-1940
Lithuania
1871-1914
1918-1940
1945
1949-
Luxembourg
1940-1942
Monaco
1918
Mountain Republic
1871-1940
1944-1945
1949-
Netherlands
1871-1920
Neutral Moresnet
1918
Ottoman Empire
1918-1939
1949-
Poland
Years
Country
1918
1941-1945
Romania
1871-1917
Russia
1920-1935
1949-1957
Saarland
1943-1944
San Marino
1939-1945
1949-1955
Soviet Union
1940-1944
Spain
1940-1945
Sweden
1871-1945
1949-
Switzerland
1941-1944
Turkey
1917-1918
Ukraine
1949-1955
United States
1943-1944
Vatican City
1918
West Ukraine
1938-1941
Yugoslavia
+19
Level 76
Mar 20, 2019
Great idea!
+18
Level 27
Mar 16, 2020
The WW2 maps ruin it. Far too arbitrary. It should only include territory incorporated into Germany.
+5
Level 75
Sep 13, 2021
I agree with InuitSlim. Countries such as Norway, France etc were occupied but never incorporated into Germany. Wikipedia has a good map that might help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-occupied_Europe#/media/File:Europe_under_Nazi_domination.png Only the dark gray areas were really annexed.
+1
Level 33
Sep 17, 2022
Ja! Das ist sehr verwirrend
+31
Level 67
Mar 24, 2019
Amusing idea, I knew most, but have never heard of Saar protectorate/basin. And i'm historian, i'm gonna look it up soon. :P
+3
Level 44
Jun 3, 2020
It was Hitler's first (aggresive) expansion
+15
Level 75
Aug 23, 2020
Not really. It was basically just a French occupation zone from World War 1. France took control of the coal fields there in Versailles. In 1935, after a referendum generally considered fair (though it was after lots of campaigning by Germany), the Saar voted with over 90% to join Germany.
+3
Level 74
Nov 23, 2020
The aggressive expnasion you are talking about is the Sudetenland.
+2
Level 56
Jan 9, 2022
No, I think he (or she) is getting it muddled up with the Rhineland / Ruhr. I do that too.
+11
Level 60
Aug 8, 2020
You are not a very good historian, then.
+2
Level 74
Nov 23, 2020
Indeed
+20
Level 74
Jan 28, 2021
Dang, tough crowd.
+5
Level 67
Mar 24, 2019
Maybe make one that includes the countries it bordered through its colonies? There is probably a place where it bordered a non-European nation.
+14
Level 55
Mar 24, 2019
If you include colonies it's just Portugal (Angola, Mozambique);

The UK (Kenya and others);

Australia (New Guinea);

China (Tsingtao);

South Africa (German South West Africa)

& The USA (American occupation of Austria).

+1
Level 78
May 6, 2019
Great idea!
+7
Level 75
May 6, 2019
Good idea! The map(s) is/are a bit difficult to navigate. It might be better if the answer block for each time period was right next to the corresponding map to simplify things a little bit.
+2
Level 55
May 6, 2019
You can't do that
+13
Level 89
Oct 24, 2019
Can you add titles to the maps that correspond to the headings in the answer table? It might clear things up a bit.
+2
Level 65
Nov 23, 2019
+1 for the titles. Really fun quiz!
+3
Level 70
Dec 4, 2019
Also agree with adding titles to the maps.
+2
Level 65
Mar 16, 2020
Yes it is rather messy, one reads top to bottom (sort of..) and the other left to right. At first glance everything jsut seems to be mixed up
+3
Level 64
May 6, 2019
This was great! The maps are very well done too!
+1
Level 43
May 7, 2019
Very fun and original quiz :)
+2
Level 82
May 8, 2019
Aw, no points? I actually got all of them... though I have no idea how I came up with Saar that was a complete guess. Typing in random stuff.
+1
Level 82
Feb 2, 2020
made this comment before the quiz was featured. Congrats on getting the star!
+1
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
I think a bunch have been added since this comment? How is the United States on here?
+2
Level 69
Nov 20, 2019
You forgot Neutral Moresnet, how dare you! ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_Moresnet

Further, the WW2 map is inconsistent on "what counts as Germany": occupied France (including Algeria?) is Germany but the occupied parts of the Balkans and Northern Africa are not?

+2
Level 55
Nov 23, 2019
Neutral Moresnet wasn't its own country, Algeria is "counted" but it doesn't border any other new countries, and about the German occupation of Yugoslavia borders it is now fixed.
+2
Level 64
Jan 30, 2020
Seconded. Neutral Moresnet needs more love!
+7
Level 60
Nov 28, 2019
Could you consider adding arrows to point out the micronations? Not necessary, but could help. Nice quiz and I like the many maps
+4
Level 71
Dec 20, 2019
Seconded
+4
Level 72
Dec 24, 2019
Thirded. I spent a good 30 seconds trying to find the tiny country I was missing.
+1
Level 51
May 27, 2021
Fourthed.
+3
Level 82
Dec 24, 2019
Hm, what does the second caveat mean? "Not including ... borders formed by occupied territory" - You obviously do count the WW2 occupation.

Great quiz in any case.

+1
Level 55
Dec 25, 2019
Rephrased it to be military occupied (because that's what I was going with it on the first place).
+3
Level 64
Jan 30, 2020
It counts puppet states (they have a government thoroughly controlled by Germany), but not merely occupied territory (like the parts of the USSR that were occupied by German armies but never had a puppet government).
+1
Level 27
Mar 16, 2020
That's a stupid criteria. Germany had more control over directly occupied territory than e.g. somewhere like Denmark 1940-43, where a unity government made up of democratic parties continued to have significant control over internal affairs.
+6
Level 85
Dec 24, 2019
It seems weird to count puppet states but not occupied territory as part of the German Empire, since the latter was more directly under German control than the former.
+5
Level 77
Dec 25, 2019
It says 1920 on the map and 1930 in the answers column?
+2
Level 55
Dec 25, 2019
Fixed.
+3
Level 75
Dec 25, 2019
I really like this quiz. However, one of the answer columns needs to be changed to "From 1920" rather than "From 1930" because that's what the svg says
+2
Level 48
Dec 26, 2019
Its impressive quiz. However it might be nice to consider listing "Danzig" as "Gdansk". It did come into my mind in the final seconds, but I did not even bothered to type it (assuming it is not counted as a state at all), because i was not missing a G-letter answer...
+4
Level 55
Dec 26, 2019
Danzig was the official name when it was an independent country.
+2
Level 50
Dec 27, 2019
It does accept Gdansk as an answer.
+3
Level 65
Dec 26, 2019
You forgot to do Monaco.
+3
Level 55
Dec 26, 2019
Monaco was annexed by Italy and soon by Germany.
+1
Level 56
Jan 30, 2020
Amazing quiz. Loved it!
+1
Level 50
Jan 30, 2020
Bruh I missed Andorra only cuz I couldnt see it.
+1
Level 56
Jan 30, 2020
Could sb explain to me how Andorra bordered Germany? Vichy-France was an 'independent' puppet-like-state as far as I know and Spain was never occupied by Germany.
+2
Level 59
Jan 30, 2020
simple answer, read the caveats...
+1
Level 67
Jan 30, 2020
lmao wth I've never even heard of Saar Protectorate, Basin, or Danzig
+2
Level 46
Jan 30, 2020
Neutral Moresnet seems to be missing. Even if this is somewhat debatable as Germany had joint sovereignty it was de facto independent.
+1
Level 59
Jan 30, 2020
Great quiz!
+1
Level 55
Feb 2, 2020
Neat quiz
+1
Level 49
Feb 3, 2020
Missed the micro nations. Never gave them a thought!
+2
Level 46
Feb 7, 2020
Like If You Never Heard Of Saar Basin, Please
+2
Level 65
Mar 16, 2020
Have heard of Sauerland but apparently that is not the same as Saar(land)
+3
Level 65
Mar 22, 2020
It was effectively a part of Germany administered by France after both World Wars but was reabsorbed into Germany both times, the first by a plebiscite in 1935 and the second by a referendum and treaty in 1956. I don't consider it a legitimate country.
+1
Level 65
Mar 22, 2020
Good quiz but when I saw the 1940 and 1941 borders I said to myself "Are we really considering those legitimate?" Additionally, I think the Saarland should be considered a puppet of France the same way Slovakia and Croatia are considered puppets of Germany during World War II. Danzig is a hard one. It was neither Poland nor Germany but it wasn't exactly independent since it was a League of Nations mandate. Including or excluding it is a matter of preference.
+1
Level 75
Aug 24, 2020
Yeah, it makes no sense to count the lands Germany occupied as part of Germany and then count the Saar as independent.
+1
Level 24
Apr 22, 2020
Lands occupied by nazi was not parts of Germany.
+2
Level 64
Aug 29, 2021
They bordered it tho.
+1
Level 57
Jan 4, 2021
How does it border to Finland?
+2
Level 64
Apr 19, 2021
They invaded Norway in WWII
+1
Level 64
Feb 18, 2021
Everything but Saar Protectorate and Saar Basin
+1
Level 71
Mar 8, 2021
Didn't know about the Saar Basin/Protectorate. Cool, I learned something new today!
+1
Level 61
May 31, 2021
Shouldn't the DDR be added too?
+1
Level 60
Jun 30, 2021
for the 1941 map, montenegro should not be gray, it was nominally a kingdom under italian protection. it was only taken over by germany in 1943
+2
Level 64
Aug 29, 2021
Why is Vichy France grey? Wasn't it technically independent as most other nations recognized it? It was occupied by Germany only after 1943.
+1
Level 78
Sep 21, 2021
Unaware of the history of the Saar - another thing I learned from Jetpunk.
+2
Level 60
Nov 8, 2021
+2
Level 56
Nov 16, 2021
Name one reason I should
+1
Level 56
Nov 16, 2021
This is a great quiz, I hope to see another one!
+1
Level 25
Mar 30, 2022
Just missed the Saar ones and Danzig
+1
Level 63
Apr 4, 2022
If the Saarland is included, should Memelland (also created in the aftermath of WWI) not be included?
+2
Level 80
Apr 15, 2022
I'm a (paid) historian, but not of this time period and area, and definitely not of WWI/WWII history. I struggled with the puppet states, but good to learn some new things. Have heard of Saar but not of 'countries' like west ukraine and kuban. I guess some of those were created in the aftermath of the Russian revolution, with the whites and whatnot? And what on earth is 'bottleneck'?
+2
Level 55
Apr 16, 2022
"Bottleneck" refers to the Free State of Bottleneck
+1
Level 80
Apr 15, 2022
Also, technically you could count two short lived states during the German revolution of 1918-19, the People's State of Bavaria and the Bavarian Council Republic (or soviet republic) that followed it.
+4
Level 83
Apr 22, 2022
Don't understand the map, and don't understand the explanatory note for the people who don't understand the map. Maybe add an explanatory note to explain the explanatory note?
+2
Level 80
Apr 23, 2022
It looks more confusing than it is, basically:

The large map that serves as the "background" is set in the present day and thus all countries there currently border Germany

Now, take for example the smaller map of the north of Norway, in which Germany bordered Sweden, the USSR and Finland ,this part of the map is set during the time the Nazis occupied Norway, thus it gets it's own inset

+2
Level 83
Apr 25, 2022
This is a great quiz idea, but the instructions are sorely lacking. Criticizing users for not understanding your vague/incomplete directions is really not a constructive solution either.
+4
Level 55
Apr 25, 2022
She has literally never criticized anyone for that at all. What are you on about?
+2
Level 88
May 24, 2022
Today I learned there was a country called "Bottleneck" from 1919 to 1923...
+2
Level 78
Jul 1, 2022
Me too. Flaschenhals apparently.
+1
Level 80
Sep 16, 2022
"For the people that do not understand this map" - yeah, because it is so intuitively obvious, isn't it?
+1
Level 60
Feb 18, 2023
Would it be possible to accept "West Ukrainian People's Republic" for West Ukraine?
+1
Level 64
May 31, 2023
My brain gone for a second